The ongoing adventures of a father who is finally finding the answers by dedicating himself to his family.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Family of Fixers, Part 2

R’s parents came for a visit and
as I mentioned the Amazing PR Man single-handedly dry walled the vestibule, but
while all this was happening, R’s dad also fixed our microwave oven. Is that
incredible, or what? Not only did he fix it, but he knows electronics (he’s an
EE), and had a complete understanding of how the microwave works and all the
possible problems that could arise.

I know one thing, if I were
stranded on a desert island and needed a microwave fixed and some drywall done,
I know who I’d like to have there with me. The microwave has been on the blink
for several months, and we’ve simply adapted to life without it. I had a sense
that when R’s parents visited, RR would want to take a stab at it, and I also
had a sense that if he did, he would no doubt be able to fix it. The only time
I think he didn’t pull off such a repair was when he looked at our TV, and the
only reason he couldn’t fix it was because he didn’t have a spare circuit board
with him. Mark my work, if we were at their house, he would have had that TV
fixed.

Anyway, right off the bat, he
questioned whether the problem with the microwave was the magnetron tube (MT),
because they are designed to have a long life. We took the microwave down from
the wall and with N helping with the screwdriver, proceeded to disembowel the
thing. Sure enough, RR determined that the problem was not the MT, and then
proceeded to fix it. Who cares if he wasn’t completely sure what he did? The
point is, he did it. Just taking that step is the key.

It sort of gives you a sense of
where the Amazing PR Man gets his amazing-ness. RR recommended that before we
strap the thing back onto the wall, we should give it a few more tried to make
sure it works. Now all we have to do is figure out where all those screws go
and what all those pieces that fell out are for. No problem. My approach is if
you’re unsure what it’s for, ignore it.

It should be interesting how long
we go with the microwave sitting on the floor. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to kapunkapcoy for the pic.